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Guerrilla Warfare
This is a modified version of nobtroggles War:An Underdogs story. Sadly he only wrote one part of that so this is a modified version with information from other sources. Being in a state of war is never a good thing. It impedes trade, research and development and is, ultimately a drain of resources as you have to pour more and more into war fleets. When your fighting an opponent who is roughly the same size and at the same level of development as you, war teaches you valuable lessons - it teaches you to gank your foe whenever you get the chance, and to avoid big costly battles where ships get destroyed and tonnes of resources just disappear into space. In this situation, war is just a way of passing time and most of the time it doesnt achieve anything. Evenly matched enemies are a recipe for nothing more than an a stand-off. When you fight a foe smaller than you, the objective is to 'farm' resources as cheaply as possible, or to prevent a potentially dangerour enemy growing big enough to acutally become a threat or to eliminate them as competition for resources that you need/want. When you are at war with an opponent who is manifestly bigger and better equipped than you, you would think that the outcome is a foregone conclusion. And yet even the smallest of Empires can fight, can survive, can outwit and demoralise the most ambitious war-mongering states. To do so, requires acts of outstanding bravery and clever strategic planning. This is the way of the under-dog. This is why small, mobile guerilla armies are often successful against much bigger and better equipped foes. If your enemy cannot beat you, it is impossible to lose and sometimes not losing can be better than winning. In Empire Universe 2 it is neither possible to win outright nor to lose. Once you understand that, it is strategy not firepower, or fleet size, nor number of planets that defines you. A clear and intelligent strategy becomes a thing of beauty, and a thron of considerable irritation to your enemy. Many empires are without equal in the universe, many are underdogs. This article will try to define the concept "Underdogs" and fighting Guerrilla warfare. Mao Zedong during the Chinese civil war, condensed guerrilla warfare into the following points for his troops: The enemy advances, we retreat. The enemy camps, we harass. The enemy tires, we attack. The enemy retreats, we pursue. So a much bigger enemy has declared war on your small empire. The first thing you should do is check your battle logs and see if any of your fleets have been attacked and if they have . You dont delete these logs, no that would be a mistake. You keep them and pour over them trying to learn your enemies fleet composition. Any time someone hauls a fleet of Dreadnaught SL's or similar half way across the galaxy to take on your much smaller fleet is a win for you. The moral of the underdog is clear - any time your enemy wastes resources for a small gain is a win for the underdog. Indeed that should be your main attempt as the underdog... to cost the enemy as many resources as possible while evading defeat. It is always a good idea to size up your enemies relations and see if they have more wars. If this is the case then you should establish relations with these empires and unite against a common enemy and it may be a wise move to find yourself a stronger ally one who matches your enemy in size, development and strength and they can fight them to a standstill while you haress your enemy weakening them. ' ' 6 things that you should consider while waging a guerrilla war. Surprise and intelligence For a sucessful operation, you must achieve surprise. If you feel your operation has been betrayed or compromised in any way then you should call it off immediately. Intelligence is also extermely important, and detailed knowledge of the target's fleets, planets, troop numbers should be gathered before an attack. Intelligence can be harvested in several ways, external (outside your empire) collaborators and sympathizers may provide information but this may not be 100% reliable and indeed may have been fed to you from the enemy. Another way of gaining information is to use probe or scanning ships to scout out the enemy fleets and planets. During or before battles on the spot reconnaissance is integral as you may have to re-evaulate plans at the last minute. If you are planning to invade an enemy world then you should "case" or analyze the location gaining knowledge of the troop amount and any or all resources on that world. Withdrawal and Terrain As a Guerrilla you must carefully plan for withdrawal once your task or operation has been completed or if it is going badly. The withdrawl phase is sometimes the most important part of your planned action because for you to become entangled in a lengthy struggle with superior forces is usually fatal. Withdrawal can be accomplished by either retreating to your nearest planet or a friendly planet or indeed flying through the nearest wormhole. You should spend at least 1/4 of your planning time working out an effective withdrawal stratgey. You may think that in a space terrain wouldn't be a problem but knowing the "lay of the land" can be effective in battle and your withdrawal. Scout the area where you plan to have a battle by searching for wormhole that can bring quick reinforcements or provide quick exits. Also you should search for enemy worlds that may use to call in reinforcements or allied planets that can be a haven. Logistics As a guerrilla force you should aviod becoming depend on fixed bases and depots which are comparatively easy for conventional enemies to locate and destroy. Mobility and speed are the keys and while it is easier said that done try and rotate your base between your five planets, or if possible rely on stronger more developed allies to provide you with components. If you can appoint someone as the logistics officer or manager, someone who has good skills in organising. Also "putting all your eggs in one basket" is not a good plan you should not have one large moveable depot but several smaller ones as if the large of is found and attacked by the enemy you could lose everything in your fight. Where as if one of the smaller depots is hit you can still recover and fight onwards. Foreign support and sanctuaries Foreign support is the form of ships, troops, componets or resources is not strictly necessary but it can greatly increase your chances of victory, as the enemy cannot or rather should not be able to withstand a a war with an equal foe and a guerrilla war at the same time, and if they cut of your own supply lines they wont be able to stop foreign support supplying you without declaring war on them. Foreign sanctuaries can add heavily to your chances, furnishing weapons, shields, resources and even training bases. Guerrilla initiative and combat intensity Being able to choose the time and place to strike as a guerrilla you should usually possess the tactical initiative and the element of surprise. Planning for an operation may take days, or even a week, with some cancellations and restarts as the situation changes. Normally rehearsals and "dry runs" would be carried out but you should save on resources and instead make sure that even involved know the plan inside and out. Only be sure of striking if you can gain clear superiority in the target area. Whatever approach you use, you hold the initiative and can prolong your survival through varying the intensity of combat. This means your attack should be spread out over wuite a range of time...from days to weeks. During the interim periods you can rebuild, resupply and plan. What you can do is plan your strikes to that you give an "around the clock" quality to the war by having "cells" or groups of people striking at different times. Attitude No matter what happens in the course of your guerilla war, whether you are winning or losing you should never become to cocky or too furstrated with your enemy. Do not let them see what you are feeling. While it might be tempting to taunt them if you are winning, that may only spur them on and give them a reason to focus themselves. It may also be tempting to shout and swear at your enemy if they are beating you but doing so will only mean that they can gain satisfaction from destroying your fleets, troops and raiding your resources. You should always show them a plain face while planning your next move.